GENERALISED SYSTEMS OF PREFERENCES: A TOOL TO ENSURE LINKAGE BETWEEN ACCESS TO MARKETS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

This paper discusses whether access to markets can be made conditional upon compliance with labour rights and environmental standards. It examines one tool used by the EU in which such a linkage is explicit: The EU's generalised system of preferences was established in favor of developing countries, in accordance with the 1979 "Enabling Clause" adopted under the General Agreement, to accelerate the integration of developing countries into the international trading system. It includes both sanctionsbased ("negative") and incentives-based ("positive") measures: it provides for the possibility of imposing sanctions for 'serious and systematic violations' of human rights or core labour standards, as well as for a special incentive (‘GSP+’) arrangement for sustainable development and good overnance. The paper reviews the history of the successive GSP schemes established by the EU, and how such an approach fits within the broader framework of the multilateral trade regime